Customer Reviews

Dog Eat Dog

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

(4.5 Stars)

Instead of continuing to review her albums in order, I'm arbitrarily jumping 23 years to "Dog Eat Dog", typically her most hated (least loved?) album.

This was recorded smack dab in the middle of the 80's, and production wise, you can tell. Thomas Dolby (along with Joni's then husband, Larry Klein) were responsible for much of the sound; lots of synthesizers, those tinny sounding 80's drums, etc. Frankly, it sounds awfully dated..especially at first, if you're used to Joni's delicate, stark works like "Blue".

As for the lyrics, this is Joni's angriest album for sure. She's pissed off about a lot of things here - corruption, lies, greed, materialism, etc. Nope, Joni was not a big fan of the Reagan era. Thus, although the musical portion sounds dated, the lyrical sentiments are still very relevant today.

Although she's angry at society, the music isn't harsh or anything. The tunes are pretty accessible, actually. "Good Friends" (in which Michael McDonald lends his soulful voice at times), for example, is a highly catchy slice of pop music.

"Fiction" also works the 80's pop/rock formula well. Driving beat, lots of keyboards, powerful hook. "Tax Free" is a brutal attack on televangelists (specifically, Jimmy Swaggart seems to be the target). The melody (tense, creeping verses lead into a powerful chorus) is compelling, the message is spot on; one of her best songs for me.

Although not much of a song, "Smokin' (Empty, Try Another)" is probably the only song to feature a cigarette machine at the main instrument. If nothing else, it's a haunting little piece.

Songs like "The Three Great Stimulants" and the title track set their politically charged lyrics (about corruption and greed, namely) to a more subdued soundtrack. They're a bit more organic sounding, but still have that 80's keyboard/synth based sound (which describes much of the material on her next album, "Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm"..but that's another review for another day).

The anti-materialism rant "Shiny Toys" has lots of gimmicky sound effects; though it's upbeat and insanely catchy to me. So I can forgive the somewhat grating production. Not so upbeat sounding is "Ethiopia" (Joni's answer to all those "Save the Children" campaigns which effectively gave money to a corrupt government), backed by a haunting piano arrangement from Joni. This actually would have been more effective with *just* the piano (think of how well it worked for songs like "The Arrangement" and "River"). But they don't go too overboard here with additional production, so it's still very good.

Joni seemingly dedicates "Impossible Dreamer" to one John Lennon (although it works for Martin Luther King and some others as well). It's a beautiful sentiment, and a lush, beautiful song.

The closing song "Lucky Girl" is a buoyant pop tune, and easily the most upbeat lyrical statement on here (a celebration of her relationship with Klein). It almost feels out of place in that regard!

So, is this a "misunderstood masterpiece"? Are people idiots for not liking it? No to both, actually. There's not much to misunderstand about this. I can see how people might think the lyrics are too preachy. Not everyone likes real political lyrics. Also, the sound. Compared to any of her 60's and 70's stuff, this is a harsh change (her voice is also getting lower, much in part from her smoking habit probably). These are all valid reasons for disliking this album.

Personally though, I really got into these songs after a few listens. Her political statements, although obvious at times, are spot on in my book. The melodies are really strong too. Considering its usual status as "worst Joni album", it's an easy winner for "most underrated" in my book.

Favorites: Impossible Dreamer, Tax Free, Fiction, Shiny Toys.

Dog Eat Dog is a spectacular sonic production unlike any of Joni Mitchel's other Albums. The sound is clean, bright, and multi-layered. Over a decade later, it still SOUNDS good. Although lovers of Joni's earlier folk-based songs complained about it, Joni's legion of fans did music a great diservice by staying away in droves from this very accomplished album. Joni's political and social commentary has always been one of the key reasons her fans love her, and those elements were in the fore here. It's shameful that the SOUND she and producer Thomas Dolby crafted wasn't embraced by Joni's fans. Maybe Joni, Dolby and a host of top talents doing cameos were having TOO MUCH fun for these "fans." To make matters worse, Radio had created many casual Joni-fans with "Big Yellow Taxi," and then failed to capitalize on that programming success with any of four tracks on Dog Eat Dog that have the same endearing feel of "Big Yellow Taxi," but with the added edge only a more mature Joni Mitchel could contribute. No other Joni Mitchel album has as much sonic scope as Dog Eat Dog, from Actor Rod Steiger's faux-christian exortations to Joni accompanying herself with an empty cigarette machine. Maybe fans found Dog Eat Dog too "theatrical." But that "theatricallity" allowed Joni to deliver a full helping of some of her best social and personal observations, bouyed-up with some of the most tuneful and catchy melodies of her career. Dog Eat Dog opened the door to a Pop-Rock landscape that hardcore fans should have supported, so that Joni would have an ongoing "commercial" outlet for her deservedly loved talents. True fans admire her Jazz-influenced later work, and hold her early "folk" work in a very special place in their hearts. To not have a follow-up to Dog Eat Dog is a great -- and ongoing -- loss. Dog Eat Dog was a very viable "commercial" sound that could have kept Joni on the radio. It's commercial "failure" was the fault of the fans and Radio Station Program Directors -- not Joni's. There is a reason that a woman, and a "non-rocker," is one of the most important inductions in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Do yourself a favor. Buy this Album. You'll find that you put it on a lot more that some of her other (exquisite) Albums. Cruising with the top down and Joni Mitchel cranked up? Believe it.

First off, I'm 26, and didn't "discover" Joni until 1997, as a freshman in college completely blown away by Blue. Immediately, I started buying Joni albums, reading reviews, and forming my initial impressions of her musical-poetic canon.

Secondly, my first reactions to Wild Things Run Fast, Dog Eat Dog and Chalkmark in a Rainstorm were overwhelmingly negative. Where were the acute, aching lyrics of Blue and Hejira? The jazz exploration of Hissing of Summer Lawns or Don Juan's Reckless Daughter? The angular melodies, declamatory vocals, and heavily electronic soundscapes really turned me off.

Fortunately, as a music major at The University of Georgia, I was continually challenging my own concept and definition of music.

Though not for the Joni novice, Dog Eat Dog is, without a doubt, Joni's overall best album from the 80s. Sonically, it's as far from traditional or anticipated Joni as one can get, but the trademarks are still there: infectious melodies, poignant lyrics, and a clarity of purpose few other artists can assert with such a radical stylistic departure.

Akin to the perspective shift she made on Hissing of Summer Lawns, which was ill-received at its debut as well, Joni turns her introspective eye outward, disassembling and dissecting society, politics and 80s out-of-control materialism with the same intensity she once used on herself. Lyrically, these songs rank with her best 70s works. "The Three Great Stimulants," itself makes the CD worth owning.

This album should not shock, though it will continually surprise you. Each listen yields deeper appreciation and understanding, as layer upon layer of sound, meaning, artisanship reveal themselves. In the age of hybrid genres and electronic music, this album is less jarring but no less powerful. Few artists today are writing electronic music this powerful and lasting. Perhaps Joni was decades ahead of the industry once again, as she was with her jazz-folk-world fusions in the 70s. Wouldn't surprise me at all.

Bought this on vinyl the year that it came out and hated it. Made the big mistake other Joni fans of yesteryear had so sorrily made of holding this offering up in juxtaposition to her earlier albums of the late 60's/early 70's.
Then whilst cleaning out the storage shed the other day, I came upon a box full of old records I had forgotten about. Interestingly, DOG EAT DOG was on top, so I proceeded to brush it off, bring it in the house, and jack up the ol' grammaphone. I can only say that from that point on, I became transfixed and transported. Had I really changed so much in these last 18 years, or was Joni just that much more ahead of her time...or both? The answer to that is academic and unimportant when held up against this important and vital music. Colors, textures, layer upon layer of synthy/guitar impressions---AND THOSE LYRICS!! And then there is all that space and silence in-between; the kind that only Thomas Dolby could have unimagined.
The only thing left now is to get this on CD and then hold on to the record for not only posterity's sake, but for a time when perhaps we live in a world that can hear and feel and touch and love and envision on a level somewhere close to the genius of this woman.

A lot of people consider this release as Joni's worst, and Dog Eat Dog doesn't deserve that. Released in 1985, it's obvious that Mitchell included some synths, esspecially because she co-produced with Thomas Dolby. It may give some of the songs a dated sound but this album is in my opinion much better then Wild Things Run Fast (1982) and Chalk Mark In A Rainstorm (1988)
Set in the middle of the Reagan period, Joni's obvious not happy with the state the world is in. They may sound a bit preachy but the lyrics have hold up really good. She takes much more risks as on her other albums released in the 80's and that's something that makes this album still enjoyable. That Good Friends didn't became a hit is still a mistery. Also, check out the instrumental Smokin' with the beat made from the sound of a cigarette machine (with Joni coughing in the background..!)

1.Good Friends 4/5
2.Fiction 3/5
3.The Three Great Stimulants 3/5
4.Tax Free 3/5
5.Smokin' 3/5
6.Dog Eat Dog 4/5
7.Shiny Toys 3/5
8.Ethiopia 2/5
9.Impossible Dreamer 2/5
10.Lucky Girl 3/5

Often dismissed by critics as an odd experimental effort, "Dog Eat Dog (DED)" is in my opinion Joni's best 80s album. Rolling Stone magazine seem to think so too. Coming after "Wild Things Run Fast", the consensus then was that DED was simply another calculated career move and that Joni was simply jumping on the electronic synthpop bandwagon that was the rage of the day. Thomas Dolby's involvement in the project seemed only to confirm this suspicion.

From confessional singersongwriter to social critic in the guise of a commercial pop/rock artist, this unnatural transformation was just too much for many traditional Joni fans (including critics) to accept and many simply baulked at their heroine's willingness to embrace a musical genre that she should consider to be beneath her. But once you get over this hang up, you're on the way to discovering what a fine album DED really is.

The opening track, "Good Friends", has to be the most catchy and commercial pop single Joni made since "Big Yellow Taxi", so why wasn't it a major hit ? Maybe radio programmers weren't expecting a Joni song that was seriously aimed at the Top 40 market and so didn't plug it. A great pity. "Fiction" is as sharp as ever. Though lyrically obscure, "The Three Great Stimulants" is stately and gorgeous and one of the best things on the album. The other songs continue in the same vein with Joni taking on the role of social critic. The quality of writing throughout is surprisingly robust. Even "Smoking (Empty, Try Another)" doesn't come across gimmicky when it could easily have done. While the material in the first half is noticeably stronger, the rest of the album holds up pretty well. There are no bummers. The title track is simply great.

The sound of DED may be harsh, cold and impersonal but it somehow works in the context of what Joni was singing about. It avoids the self-conscious hard rock excesses of "Wild Things Run Fast" that make WTRF such an uneven album. Old Joni fans who ran out on her by the end of the 70s are encouraged to put all their prejudices aside and check out her 80s output. DED may look and smell different, but they'll find much of the Joni they knew and loved in it if they really listened.

1985's "Dog Eat Dog" is a powerful record consisting of mainly all protest songs with the exception of it's riff driven opener "Good Friends" & it's wonderfully jazz tinged closer "Lucky Girl." But everything inbetween is Joni's social wrath. Fearlessly touching on subjects such as the corrupt government, the rotting soul of the music industry, lawyers & corporate facists taking over, rasism, greed, poverty, the diluted & ignorant media. All handled with great intellegence in true Joni fashion. On the melodic title track, she declares:

"Land of snap decisions
Land of short attention spans
Nothing is savored
Long enough to really understand
In every culture in decline
The watchful ones among the slaves
Know all that is genuine will be
Scorned and conned and cast away."

Intelligent & thought provoking, evocative & unapollogetic. "Dog Eat Dog" is another unique chapter of brilliance in Joni's collection.

you must admire joni for always being honest, & you can't say she doesn't take risks, because this album is a perfect example of not trying to please people & doing/saying what you believe fearlessly. i agree with joni's political views, so i was able to enjoy this album on that level as well. this is NOT the joni of "blue" or even "court & spark" & a lot of fans have a hard time with that. but if you give it a real chance, it will definatly grow on you.

OK, some people just can't dig Joni in this mode. When this album was released it was panned, probably because it was so...different. But different is what makes Joni tick, musically, and is why this fan digs her so much. I dig the techno-funk social criticism of Fiction and the edgy, middle-of-night rock of The Three Great Stimulants. Best of all, there's the disarming, dreamy Impossible Dreamer, one of her best tunes. Dog deserves a higher place in the annals of pop criticism. If it had been released with a newer artist's name and face on the cover, it would have been hailed as innovative, literate, meticulously produced mid-80's pop. That's how I still hear it, even if the artist who created it wasn't "supposed" to do techno-funky-jazzy. Right on, Joni.

I picked this up when it was released on vinyl many years ago and unlike some, I loved it at first listen. Not long after making the switch to CD's, this one was in my collection in that format as well. Granted it's not the same Joni many had become accustomed to, but was far more accessible to me than her jazz efforts and some of her work in the 90's as well. My favorite Joni album will always be Court and Spark, but this one come right after. You need this on CD if you like Joni's work at all!